Low interest rates drove industrial property values to €1,600 per square metre in Dublin in the first half of 2005, according to data released yesterday.
Strengthening economic activity boosted demand for industrial property during the first six months of the year, consultants CB Richard Ellis Gunne said in their latest review of the market.
Prime rents rose slightly to €120 per square metre in the first half of the year.
At the same time, low interest rates encouraged businesses to buy rather than lease their property, which led to sale values rising a notch to €1,600 per square metre.
The consultants' figures show that businesses bought 92,500 square metres of property in Dublin during the first six months of 2005, while they leased 26,500 square metres during the same period.
There were a number of high-profile sales during the first half of the year, including the former Renault site on the Kylemore Road in the west of the city, which fetched €12 million, and the old Honda facility on the Naas Road, in the same area, which had a price tag of €3 million.
Garrett McClean, head of CB Richard Ellis Gunne's industrial agency, said that transport links continued to influence the market during the period, with strong demand for land around the M1 Dublin-Belfast motorway.
Much of this was in anticipation of the opening of the Dublin Port Tunnel early next year, Mr McClean said.
Industrial land is now getting an average of €1.8 million per hectare, according to the review. Prime yields in the market contracted to six per cent from 6.25 per cent.
